Jeni (center) shares her observation notes with Lesley Fowler (the classroom teacher) and Jennifer Allen (literacy coach).
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Playing with Group Observations:
Reflections on Learning with New Teachers
Jennifer Allen
"I learned that teaching is a process of learning from others, experimenting, and refining."- Walli, from the New Teachers Group
[This essay is part of Jennifer Allen's ongoing series about creating and leading a new teacher group with her colleague, Leslie Lloyd, a third-grade teacher. For earlier excerpts from the series, click on any of the "Related Article" links at the end of the essay.]
The new teacher group is winding down. Our next and last meeting will be in June. Leslie Lloyd, the group's co-leader and I find ourselves constantly reflecting and refining the group as we go along. I find each month we approach some aspect of the group from a slightly different angle. This month Leslie and I played around with the classroom observations.
Each month participants talk about the value of being able to observe other teachers and the time taken to debrief as a group. This month we had new teachers Jeni and Jess observe together with Leslie as I co-taught with a veteran teacher, Lesley Fowler. This particular observation was a writing share. As students read their research papers, classmates listened and wrote about strengths they heard in the writing and named the craft that the author did well. Students then shared their post-its with the student author.
To view one of the student sharing sessions we observed, click on the play link on the lefthand side of the viewer below:
To view the notetaking form used by the teacher observers, click on the link below:
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/IMAGE0001.PDF
To view a sample completed notetaking form, click on this link:
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/IMAGE0002.PDF
Jeni, Jess, and Leslie expressed excitement about being able to share thinking with one another in the midst of the observations. I also found taking time to debrief with all three of them at the end of the observation to be insightful. Jess and Jeni asked wonderful questions regarding the student share. Leslie participated as an equal member sharing her insights and thinking along with Jeni and Jess. They were impressed with the students' level of feedback that they provided the author.
To view an excerpt from the debrief session, click on the play link on the lefthand side of the viewer below:
It was through the debriefing that the classroom teacher was able to explain that this share was more of a celebration and that students had many opportunities to peer conference throughout the writing process. We were also able to share how this process of having students name writing craft evolved as Lesley and I tried to move students from giving peers generic compliments during writing shares. We shared in the debrief that we were hearing too many students give compliments like,"I liked your writing. You used descriptive words."
Leslie and I learned that it is important that the observations end with a quick debrief between the new teachers and the classroom teacher so that the observers can ask burning questions and that any confusions can be clarified. It is also an opportunity for classroom teachers to share background information on where they have been with the students.
Jess and Jeni shared their joint observation with the new teacher group meeting that afternoon. As a result of their feedback the group decided that in the future new teachers would make observations in pairs. Jess and Jeni also voiced the importance of having the opportunity to debrief on the observation with the classroom teacher.
To view an excerpt from the new teacher group observation discussion, click on the play link on the lefthand side of the viewer below:
Leslie and I need to take a closer look at how we work with colleagues who are being observed by the new teachers. We worked so hard preparing the new teachers for their observations yet neglected sharing expectations with cooperating teachers. Leslie and I talked about the need to ask participating classroom teachers to take a few minutes and debrief with the new teachers at the end of the observation.
I think that Leslie and I need to find some time with staff and talk about ways to debrief after an observation by a new teacher. I see this as simple as sharing a few debrief prompts that cooperating teachers could use with new teachers like: What did you notice? What do you wonder? I think it would also be beneficial to show staff a video excerpt of us modeling a quick debrief of a classroom observation.
You may read this and think that observing as teams is nothing new, and even question why we didn't take more of a team approach to our observations in the beginning. But you need to realize that peer observations have not been part of our school culture. In September both new teachers and staff were hesitant about this process. New teachers were skeptical of using an observation form and classroom teachers were reluctant to have observers in their classrooms.
Leslie and I wanted to be sensitive to all staff and realized that creating a culture of peer observations would be a process. We tried to approach the observation component in a safe, nonthreatening way. That is why we had decided not to join in on these observations in the beginning and we thought one observer would be less disruptive to students and the teacher since this was not a practice that staff and students were used to.
However, over the year the comfort level of both new teachers and cooperating teachers increased. New teachers were thrilled to be learning so many strategies from watching their peers and I think new teachers were flattered and honored that new teachers were so complimentary of their instruction. Slowly word got out across the school that these observations were a powerful learning experience for all involved. It has been through the on-going conversations with new teachers and staff that we continue to build off our original observation model. It is exciting that the new teachers are the ones that want to observe together and actually welcome Leslie and myself joining them in their observations. I am not sure if this team approach to observation would have been as successful at our school if we had started off on day one going into classrooms as a team.
What other changes do we have planned so far for next year? Leslie and I have decided to cut two meetings out of the school year to reduce the amount of time that new teachers are out of their classrooms. We will start our meetings next October and meet monthly through May (eliminating September and March). We have wrestled all year with the pros and cons of pulling new teachers out of their classrooms for a day each month.
We have decided to not meet in May. There is just too much going on. Our last meeting with be in June. It will be a day to celebrate. Leslie and I want to make it special. Somehow the monthly structure we have followed all year doesn't seem fitting. So once again Leslie and I have talked and refined our plans. On our last meeting we will still spend the morning having new teachers observe in classrooms. But we have decided to scrap the afternoon of exploring reading and writing workshop. Instead we will connect and debrief over a celebratory lunch followed by a book buying trip to the local book store. We will provide each new teacher with a purchase order for books. We hope that this will be an opportunity for new teachers to browse through new books, make connections to their reading and writing workshop as they look ahead and start planning in anticipation to next year!
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